Hockey Hall Of Fame to induct Adam Oates, Joe Sakic, Pavel Bure, Mats Sundin

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that they'll induct Adam Oates, Joe Sakic, Pavel Bure and Mats Sundin to the players category in 2012. The group will be officially inducted into the Hall on Nov. 12.

Oates, who retired as a player in 2004, is having quite the day. Earlier Tuesday he was hired by the Washington Capitals as their head coach. Oates played for the team from 1996 to 2002, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals as captain in 1998. He began his NHL career in 1985 with the Detroit Red Wings and would play for the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Edmonton Oilers. Oates scored 341 goals and 1,079 assists in 1,337 games.

Sakic, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, retired from the NHL in 2009. He spent his entire career with the Colorado Avalanche organization, making his NHL debut in 1988 when the team played as the Quebec Nordiques. Sakic won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001 with the Avalanche, won Olympic Gold with Canada in 2002 and scored 100 points or more six times during his NHL career.

Bure played the majority of his career with the Vancouver Canucks, leading the club to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994. After leaving Vancouver in 1998, he joined the Florida Panthers for four seasons before his career was cut short by injury in 2003 as a member of the New York Rangers. Bure played 702 NHL games in total, scoring 437 goals and 342 points in those games. He was an NHL All-Star six times and he won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 1992.

Sundin, another first-ballot inductee, played most of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first-overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Sundin went on to play four seasons with the Quebec Nordiques before joining Toronto for 13 seasons. He wrapped up his career in 2009 with the Vancouver Canucks after 1,346 games in the NHL. He scored 1,349 points in those games. Sundin never won a Stanley Cup but he led Sweden to Olympic Gold in 2006 and won Gold at the World Championships in 1991, 1992 and 1998.

Brendan Shanahan missed out on induction into the players category this year, the first year he was eligible for the honor. Coaches Pat Burns and Fred Shero missed out in the builders category yet again.